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Queen ants can produce 800 eggs a day. Don’t wait till the infestation get worse.

Learn More About Ants

Ants

Ants are social insect. It is very common to find ants in Singapore. Be it ants in your home or workplace. They are related to bees and wasps, although not all of them can fly. Some winged ants that are able to fly are called the reproductive. This is usually the future queens who will swarm in a large group.

Their main objective is to find a male to mate and start new ants colonies. Very often, people mistake ants for termite and vice versa.

Hence, it is important to know the difference between these two. One way to find out is by looking at the wings.

Termite swarmer has all four wings that are all identical in shape and size. Meanwhile, the ant swarmers have two sets of wings that identical to each other.

They mate in the air and afterwards, the winged male will die soon. In fact, this is common for a lot male bug.

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Ant Characteristic

Lifecycle

They go through 4 different stages from the eggs to larva, pupae and finally an adult. The larvae are white and legless and look like maggots. They will also undergo repeated moulting as it grows. Eventually, a cocoon will cover the pupae during its metamorphose period to an adult. The complete process may take from 6 weeks to 2 months.

They can live for about 90 days. However, this depends on the species, because some can go for as long as 6 months to a year. The queen can control the sex of her offspring by choosing to fertilise the eggs with sperm. All fertilised eggs and pupae that are well-nurtured can become the next queen.

Fertilised eggs always produce females. Meanwhile, unfertilised eggs produce males. The workers ants are made out entirely of female. Additionally, the larvae are completely dependent on the workers for their care. The workers also feed the larvae with regurgitated food.

Identification

It’s easy to recognise them. First is the narrow waists, next is the ;bulbous abdomens and last is the elbowed antennae. They are always commonly mistaken for termite. Ant has three distinct body segments. First is the head, second is thorax and finally, abdomen.

On the other hand, termites do not have these parts.

They are also different in colour. Most of them are black, brown, tan or reddish brown.

Habitat

They live underground, in dead wood or sometimes in plant cavities. In Singapore however, common ants can easily be found in an apartment. It will start by infesting your kitchen and bathroom. They invade the kitchen for obvious reasons, since this is where the main food source can be found. They will look for crack and crevices and wall voids to start a sub nest. It’s not surprising if there are many sub nests in your kitchen!

Nevertheless, the parent colony can sometimes be found outside the house. You can call their nest “ant hill” because it looks like a pile of soil. It is normally on the ground. Hence, it is clear indication that the queen is nearby.

Diet

They have one of the most diverse diets. Ants feed on almost anything. But, some prefer protein-based food while others more on carb based food. Odorous house ant for example is both sugar and protein based diet.

Most of them have a fondness for sweet things. They have a central ingredient in their diet called honeydew. Honeydew is a sweet and sticky secretion produce by aphids.

Learn about ant caste

Ant Colony

Queen

The queen is the only one that can lay eggs. Once the queen grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs! A colony may have one queen or multiple queens, depending on the species.

Males

The male ant’s job is to mate with future queen ants and they do not live very long afterwards.

Workers

The workers tend to the colony’s offspring. They will even rescue the pupae if there is a disturbance in the nest. They are selfless and will even sacrifice their own food for the well-being of the colony.

Their colony divides labour between workers, queen and male reproductive. The all-female workforce will gather food, construct the nest and keep the colony clean.

Soldiers

The colonies also have soldiers that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food as well as nesting space. They can take away eggs of the defeated colony.

The new ants become the “slave” ants for the colony once the egg hatches.

Learn to know when you need ant control

Signs of Ant Infestation

They can enter your home in various ways, including from outdoor or brought in. They can look so harmless. You see them crawling around and think nothing much of it. However, before you know it, they are everywhere! Most times, people only take notice of them once it is too late. Try leaving an unattended food on the table for 5 mins and you see them start feeding on it. When this happens, you know that you have a serious pest issue on hand. The kitchen is where it is most common to find them as that is the where the food source is abundant for them. But, the moment you start seeing them in the rooms, we can safely determine that the colony is getting bigger. Pest management is needed to stop them from building more sub nest to accommodate the infestation. Get a pest control company like us to determine the level of infestation that you are facing. Understand more about ant control here.

Ants Trail

Ants lay down pheromone trails that enable others to follow them to any food source and back to the nest. You can see a large number of them working tirelessly to bring the food back to the nest.

Live Presence

You start seeing large number of live ants. Leaving an unattended food is not possible anymore.

Nest Sites

You can find them living in any crack or crevices indoor. Meanwhile, they can be found in a small pile of soil or damaged wood outdoor. A common nest found outdoor would be a fire ant nest.

Bite

Not all will bite but when they do, they can cause an allergic reaction. The red imported fire ants sting is one of the most common bites that you can encounter. They will also attack in groups.

Species of ants can be found in Singapore

Types of Ants

Weaver Ants

They often hang around the wooden area of the house. Although most often confuse them for eating wood, what they actually do is burrow into wood to make a nest.

Pharaoh Ants

Most people often mistake them for ghost ants. However, they are different in colour and move slower. They can also be found inside your homes.

They are harder to eliminate as most baits don’t work well with them. Moreover, they prefer protein based food.

Ghost Ants

The most common ants that can be found in your home. However, they can be difficult to see because they are pale, which is also why they earned the name “Ghost”.

Ghost ants feed on a wide variety of food and can be seen foraying anywhere in the house.

Crazy Ants

They are also known as pavement ants, sugar ants or Argentine ants or what most people see them as the black ants. They have one of the best defensive technique. They will usually scatter around when threatened. They love sugary food.

Carpenter Ants

They often hang around the wooden area of the house. Although most often confuse them for eating wood, what they actually do is burrow into wood to make a nest. The infestation can grows very fast and often move to accommodate the colony. It is uncommon to see them carrying the eggs during this movement.

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